Trump Hails Iraq's New Prime Minister Ali Al-zaidi As US Forces Leave

WASHINGTON, Oct 1 (Bernama-Anadolu) -- US President Donald Trump placed Iraqi new Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi at the centre of his announcement that the last American forces are leaving the country, portraying the new Iraqi leader as a key figure in the next chapter of US-Iraq relations, Anadolu Ajansi (AA) reported. 

"This is a Great Day for America and, importantly, we leave with Iraq having a wonderful new Prime Minister, Ali al-Zaidi, somebody I supported from the beginning and fully endorsed.

"He won an Election that he was not expected to win, and did so, in a landslide!" Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Earlier Wednesday, Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell announced that the US and its coalition partners have formally concluded Operation Inherent Resolve in Iraq.

Trump also said that the last American forces are leaving Iraq, declaring an end to more than two decades of US military involvement in the country.

“It has been a long time, with very bad decision-making that got us involved in this quagmire in the first place, but soon, that will be part of History,” Trump said.

Trump said the withdrawal would mark the end of Operation Inherent Resolve and described the departure of coalition forces and equipment from Erbil Air Base as an "orderly conclusion" to the US mission.

The president said al-Zaidi is "outstanding."

"He will hopefully be able to handle things very well. We came to fight a caliphate. There is no longer a caliphate. We are going home!" he added.

Later, addressing a Hispanic Heritage Month celebration, Trump said he is "very proud" of al-Zaidi, and "hopefully he's going to do a fantastic job."

"Today, I'm pleased to announce that the last American forces are leaving Iraq... This day is a victory for the United States, it's a victory for Iraq, and a decisive victory over ISIS, which has been completely decimated."

Trump said the orderly departure of coalition forces and equipment from Erbil Air Base marks the end of "a very expensive excursion into hell."

"And again, we took all of our equipment. I said, 'Take a little longer. Take everyone.’ We left all of the equipment. If you remember, in Afghanistan, everything was left behind ... I said, 'I want every screw taken. If there's a screw lying on the ground, take it. If we have a canvas tent, take it.' We took everything.

"A lot of people wanted us to be permanently there. I had a choice to stay or to leave, and felt without question that it was time for America to go home," he said.

Tom Barrack, the US ambassador to Türkiye and special presidential envoy for Syria and Iraq, said completing the American military withdrawal from Iraq could allow the country to bring its armed forces under unified state command.

"Twenty-three years after the first American boots landed in Iraq, President Trump has completed the transition of our forces home, not by walking away, but by aligning every side of the cube," Barrack said on US social media company X.

He said coordination among Baghdad, Erbil, regional partners, and US interests was central to the transition, describing the effort as especially important at a sensitive moment for the region.

Barrack also paid tribute to American and Iraqi personnel who served and died during the years of conflict.

"With that alignment, a door long closed has opened: the opportunity for Prime Minister al-Zaidi and the Iraqi people to bring all of Iraq's armed forces under one state and one chain of command, with America as a friend rather than a garrison.

"The intricate statecraft required to turn one critical cubelet in a vast regional Rubik's cube still in search of its algorithm. Well done, Mr President," he added.

-- BERNAMA-ANADOLU